Chapter 401

401 For Her Hand(Part Two)

***CONTENT WARNING: LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE, GORE, AND SLIGHT TRIGGER MATERIAL***

Klaus stared down the man who had been terrorizing the woman he loved. A kind of heavy hatred had built up towards Connor since he had arrived with the soldiers sent by Moonstone and Reinbolt. It made him wish that killing was allowed, but he would settle for a sound beating.

Zas had trained Klaus well before the Mage Trials. One of his first lessons was that his magic could only go so far, and that he would have to train his body to extremes to reach the top ranking Tanks that already existed within the RMC. He knew how hard the work would be, and he stuck to it.

Even though Klaus wasn’t using his magic, he was still ridiculously strong for a human. He could bench what General Zas could, and his speed was relatively good; considering he favored strength like the General. As the two readied to fight, Klaus glanced at Kari and Skye..

He loved Kari, but his duty as Skye’s bodyguard came first.. Or so he had always thought. She saved his life by nearly killing him, which made Klaus feel indebted to her.

It wasn’t a big deal to Skye, but she understood how important it was to Klaus, and so did Kari. She supported his choice, and even joined in on his and Ronnie’s personal mission to safeguard the princess..

‘She’s risked so much for me.. All so she could be with me.. Her parents almost disowned her, and she nearly died at least three times since starting her training..She cooks for me, and always listens.. For all she does for me: I can at the Least get rid of one problem..’

“I’m not holding back, Con Man. I’m gonna show you just how much you’ve pissed me off by hurting Kari,” Klaus stated as he glared at Connor.

He grimaced at the taunting nickname, the said; “Oh, that’s Nothing compared to how our wedding night is gonna be..”

.....

Connor looked directly at Kari as he added; “She’ll learn her place one way or the other.”

Skye literally saw Kari shiver as she recalled similar threats, but with ‘examples’. The few times that her parents had left them alone together, he had kicked and punched her in places that weren’t directly visible. Warning her that the marriage was inevitable, and that the more she resisted, the worse her punishment would be.

Their last meeting was when Kari had gone to Klaus for help, then ultimately to Skye and Tidas. They had essentially paid off her parents by promising to match any bride price that the Arnolds offered on Klaus’ behalf. With that, they broke off the engagement, and allowed their daughter to become engaged to Klaus.

Connor seemed desperate to keep the engagement. Which Skye and Tidas had wrote off as pressure from his parents to try and force her hand. As Tidas raised his arm to signal the fight, Skye funneled a sizable amount of her Earth magic into the ground..

The air went still around the gathered soldiers and servants as Tidas’ arm fell. Neither opponent moved at first, then Klaus rushed towards Connor as he pulled his sword from it’s sheath. Unaccustomed to people that actually fought back, Connor panicked, and pulled the gun out before any actual fighting could happen.

As his arm came up, Skye saw the firelight glimmer off of the gun’s barrel. Without any thought: she immediately put up a small wall between Connor and Klaus before he could pull the trigger. As the bullet ricocheted, Klaus slammed face-first into the wall; cracking it, and nearly toppling it.

As he howled in pain, Connor got up, and ran towards the center of camp. Tidas took off after him as Skye went to heal Klaus’ broken face. As he tapped into his magic, Tidas wondered if Skye realized that he was standing in the line of fire..

‘If Klaus would’ve dodged, I would’ve been shot.. Wonder if my Shaman trait would’ve activated..’

As Tidas pushed the thought from his mind, he sped off to catch up with Connor..

************

‘I’m so fucked! I’m so fucked! Why did I listen to that creep?! I shoved just dropped to my knees, then stabbed him as he tried to lord over me!’

Connor’s thoughts were frantic and irrational as he slowly and quietly moved from tent to tent. He was gingerly making his way to the wagon with the Spear in it when he heard Tidas come to a sudden stop a few feet away from him. Fear surged within him, but Tidas wound up walking off in the other direction.

With all of the noise from the party, Tidas couldn’t use his souped-up hearing to locate Connor. Relying on his eyes would take forever, but it was his only option. As he kept his ears open while he retraced his steps and checked the tents, Tidas wondered why an uneasy feeling was creeping up his spine..

Connor sighed in relief, then continued towards the cart. He didn’t trust the odd soldier from before, but the Spear was his only chance now. He’d heard the stories about it turning the King’s brother into a monster..

‘But that took years, right?! I can handle it long enough to take out Klaus.. I can even kill him, and blame his death on the Spear’s influence..’

Right as Connor had the thought, he heard Klaus call out; “Where are you, Connor?! You fucking Coward! A gun?! Really?! You could killed me you bastard! When I get my hands on you, I’m gonna beat you to a bloody fucking pulp!”

Connor grinned to himself.. ‘You just keep slinging out threats, you fucking idiot. Just gives my lie credence..’

More and more people started to sweep through the campsite, but Connor was already near the center. Since everyone was going tent to tent looking for him, it would take them a few minutes to reach him.. ‘By the time they see me, it’ll be too late..’

As he reached the cart, Connor realized how close Tidas was, and started to frantically dig for the Spear. Tidas popped around from the side of a tent just in time to see Connor holding up the Spear..

“What are you doing?! Put it down NOW!” he screamed, then ran at Connor.

Before Tidas could reach him, he unwrapped the Ethereal Spear, and grabbed ahold..

************

Ahriman had stuck to the shadows and made his way over to the center cart. He could feel the Dark magic calling to him, but knew better than to touch the Spear himself. Since he was a Dark magic user, he would’ve been taken over by the Spear almost instantly.

As Connor had rummaged for the Spear, Ahriman had slipped under the cart, and waited until the fool had it in his hand. As soon as he saw the cloth drop, he reached his hand out, and grabbed hold of Connor’s ankle. As he funneled his magic into Connor, Ahriman grinned evilly..

************

Tidas didn’t know what he was looking at. A ghoulish hand had reached out from underneath the cart, and squeezed Connor’s leg to the point of denting his armor. As he cried out in pain, dark ooze spilled out from the Spear and the hand, and began to overtake Connor.

“HELP Me! For the love of the gods! Help me! I didn’t think-Ahhhhh!”

As the ooze covered over half of his body and kept going; Klaus, Kari, Amara, and Skye all showed up. Murdoc, Petrie, Ronnie, Ralph, and Arthur came up from behind them, and stood in complete shock at the sight before them. They were all too horrified to notice the thing stretching out from under the cart, but Skye noticed..

“The Fuck is that?!” she exclaimed as she got her husband’s attention, and pointed to the hand.

“I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure it’s the reason Connor’s changing so quickly! Dark magic was leaking out of it along with the Spear!” Tidas shouted over Connor’s wails.

“Save me! Save me please! I don’t wanna die! I don’t wanna die! I-argh-” as Connor pleaded, the ooze climbed up his neck, and covered his face.

He choked and gasped for air as the Dark and Ether magic suffocated him. Forcing itself into his mouth, and up his nose. As he clawed at his throat, Skye stepped forward to try and help..

“Wait! We don’t know what he’ll do, dearie. Best ta stay back,” Amara said as she grabbed Skye’s arm, and held her back.

Skye shook her head and pulled away from her as she yelled; “He’ll die if I do nothing!”

“...Is that such a bad thing,” Klaus muttered, but only Kari had heard it.

She looked up at Klaus with sadness in her eyes; “He’s a terrible person, but do you honestly think that he deserves to die like this?!”

Klaus looked down at the ground, but kept his voice unwavering; “I have no sympathy for anyone who hurt you, and I won’t apologize for it. Don’t forget that he just tried to shoot me, too..”

Kari nodded, but still had a dismal expression on her face. She didn’t like killing unless it was in a battle. In her mind, there wasn’t any fault in killing during a war, but this was different.. ‘This was supposed to be a duel of honor, not attempted murder.. Why does Connor have to bring these things down upon himself?’

As the thought crossed her mind, Ralph came to stand behind her and Klaus, and said; “Don’t let yer heart hurt for that man. He wanted ya for yer magic and standin’ wit Skye. He’s a corrupt bastard that doesna deserve yer sympathy, Kari. Besides, everyone knew not ta touch that thing. He’s brought this hell upon himself.”

Kari understood what Ralph and Klaus were saying, but she couldn’t help but feel sorry for Connor.. ‘He’s still a living being..’

As Kari struggled internally, Skye hiked up her skirts, and ran at Connor. When her necklace started to glow, a familiar voice called out to her from the distance. Stopping a good twelve feet or so from Connor, Skye turned and smiled as she watched Aero and Celestia flying towards them at incredible speeds.

Pixies were naturally fast, so the moment they had felt a surge in Dark magic, the two had taken off from Warrick Forest with all haste. Since Celestia was a Light magic mage, she could feel the Dark magic before Connor had even touched the Spear.

As they flew in from above, Celestia called out to Skye again; “Don’t use your Catalyst powers! I got this!”

As Aero broke off to flutter near Tidas, Celestia started to glow as brightly as the sun. Skye smiled and quickly greeted her, then turned back to face Connor..

His screams had stopped, and the creepy hand around Connor’s ankle had disappeared right as Aero and Celestia had come into view. Skye couldn’t sense what or where the hand had gone, but Celestia knew..

‘Who was that human? And why are they going in the direction of the Alconian capital?’